Beiji Refinery’s attack, part of anti-economy plan, Minister says:
BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraq ’s Oil Minister, Abdul-Karim al-Lueby has said on Saturday that the explosive attack on Beiji Oil Refinery early in the day “is part of plan aimed at undermining the Iraqi economy.” “Beiji’s North Oil Refinery was attacked by unknown gunmen, who sneaked into the Refinery early in the day, blew three of its production units, setting fire to the units,” the Minister said. He said that the attack “had been part of a plan against the Iraqi economy, aimed at undermining services for Iraqi citizens, following the achievements of our Ministry.” A source in the Oil Protection Detachments in Salahaddin told IraqiNews.com early in the day that three production units have been set on fire, due to an armed attack against the Refinery, that hampered its work. He said that a group of armed men have broken through the Refinery, killed the guard and planted five explosive charges in its three units, that blew off 15 minutes after their escape, setting them to fire. The Oil Minister, on his part, said that he had formed a high-level team from the Ministry and supporting companies to repair the damage, adding that the fire was under control now. Meanwhile, the Oil Ministry’s Official Spokesman, Assem Jihad, told IraqiNews.com news agency that the explosion against the North Refinery, had caused the killing of one of its workers and wounded another. He said that North Refinery in Beiji consists of two parts, the first is North Refinery, with 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) production capacity and the other with 70,000 bpd capacity, which is under maintenance now and was not damaged by the fire. Noteworthy is Beiji Refinery, with its Salahaddin and North Units, is considered the largest refinery in Iraq and the main supplier of oil products, in addition to its supply of fuel to several electric power stations. Beiji, is 40 kms to the north of Tikrit, the center of Salahaddin Province , 175 kms to the north of Baghdad . RT / SKH 710